This is a quick test of MacJournal to see what it’s editing capabilities are.
Hum, template based export of journal entries. Not sure I’d like that for blogging.
MacJournal might be pretty cool for journal writing though. We’ll have to play with it a bit and see.
Smittie
As mentioned in a previous post, I recently went to White Sands Missile Range for training. Well, 47 years ago, or there abouts, my father was at White Sands Missile Range to test fire the Corporal Missile. Here's the family standing in from of the Corporal missile displayed at the WSMR museum.
[posted with ecto]
Technorati Tags: family, life, middle-age, military, parenting, psychology
...I hope you find peace [ news articles | Original blog post ].
I am sorry for you tragic loss. Specialist Casey Sheehan sounds like someone I would have liked. I wish I'd had the chance to serve with him. I believe he was a good soldier. I hope that, in time, you find a place where you are as happy and content in your life as I believe your son was in his.
I wish you the best, Cindy.
aloha
[posted with ecto]
Technorati Tags: family, iraq, life, military, parenting, politics, sociology
Memorial Day is a United States federal holiday that is observed on the last Monday of May (observed this year on 2007-05-28). It was formerly known as Decoration Day. This holiday commemorates U.S. men and women who have died in military service to their country. It began first to honor Union soldiers who died during the American Civil War. After World War I, it expanded to include those who died in any war or military action. One of the longest standing traditions is the running of the Indianapolis 500, which has been held in conjunction with Memorial Day since 1911. [source: Wikipedia]
In the course of your celebration of the beginning of summer this year, maybe you could take a minute to raise a glass or even bow a head and remember those who paid the ultimate sacrifice for their country. From the Revolutionary War through to the Civil War, where Memorial Day got its beginning, to the World Wars and even into the unpopular wars, Korea, Vietnam and now Iraq, the men and women who died in those wars deserve to be remembered. For one reason or another, they answered their nation's call to service and then died in the course of that service. No great love has any man than to lay down his life for another [John 15:13].
I remember Lance Corporal Joseph B. Spence. Killed January 26, 2005.
I remember Petty Officer 1st Class Michael J. Pernaselli. Killed 24 April 2004.
I remember Petty Officer 2nd Class Christopher E. Watts. Killed 24 April 2004.
I remember Coast Guardsman, Petty Officer Third Class Nathan Bruckenthal. Killed 24 April 2004.
aloha
[posted with ecto]
Technorati Tags: afghanistan, family, friends, iraq, life, military, politics, sociology
This is it, right here. This is why we do what we do. This 15 year old girl understands what seems to have escaped most people twice her age.
Thanks, Dad. For sending me the video and for understanding what the video is talking about. I know that you remember me.
aloha
[posted with ecto]
Technorati Tags: family, iraq, life, military, politics, video
...I'm glad to hear someone is outraged but it should hardly be surprising. We, the US military, went into this war with fiberglass and canvas humvees and Vietnam era flack vests. Congress wants to extract as much political value out of each round of funding approval. So, it should really come as little surprise that major equipment upgrades such as a request for 1200 new MRAP vehicles got put on the back-burner and then short changed.
Everyone says they support the troops but at the end of the day, it is the US military that is at war. America goes on about its daily life, no longer interested in the war. Politicians are interested in the war only insofar as its usefulness as a political tool. Democrats hope that the war in Iraq is the level with which they can pry the Whitehouse from the Republican grip.
If America, as a whole, decided to get behind Iraq, I would venture a bet that we would see progress beyond our wildest imagination in one year. If Congress, both sides of the aisle, asked what does the military need to finish this thing and how can we get it to them. If American businesses asked, what can we do to help the American military survive and do a better job. If American businesses asked, what can we do to help jump start the Iraqi economy. Go look at how many auto manufacturers brought out new car models between 1941 and 1945. What do you suppose they were doing? How much longer would it have taken for the Allies to beat Hilter and Tojo if the American public has simply turned away and ignored what was happening in Europe?
Aloha
[update] Here's an article that tells the whole story. It's the Marines that have come out and said it but bet you very last Washington, the issue affects all services.
[posted with ecto]
I've been into photography since 1980 when I bought my first Canon AE-1. I loved that camera. I'm sorry I don't still have it. In 1990 my photography equipment got stolen. I replaced the AE-1 with a Canon EOS 650 which I still have. When I was deployed to Kuwait I took the first digital camera I bought, a Canon A10 (I think). Digital photography is pretty cool. Digital film is cheap and persistent. Take as many shots as necessary and simply delete all but the best, sans the cost of developing. I still think that's pretty cool.
However, storing your old skool photograph prints is pretty cheap and easy. Shoe boxes are pretty cheap. Acid free sleeves are easy to find these days and then you just need shoes boxes. Digital photographs are a little different. They have to be stored on drives, CDs or some other media. That necessitates some kind of cataloguing system still you can no longer simply flip through the prints in the shoe box anymore. It all seemed so cool. So cheap.
And lastly, digital photographs change the way we share photos with our friends and family. It use to be that we would drag our prints around and assail the unsuspecting with our latest photos from Greece or that beautiful niece. None of which anyone really wanted to look at. If you were unfortunate enough to be my friend, not only did you have to look at bad pictures, you had to listen to me tell the stories that went with them.
For years now I've been trying to store all the digital photos I've ever taken on my laptop. I wanted to have them all with me. I never looked at them all. I just wanted to know that I could look at them all if I wanted to. Of late, that has meant allocating over 20 gigabytes to something that I seldom actually used. Additionally, no one really wanted to gather around a laptop to look at photographs, even on the rare occasion that they actually did want to see the picture.
So, I finally broke down and paid the $20 for Flickr Pro account. Now I'm uploading all of my photos to Flickr. I uploaded the first batch today. The pictures from my deployment in 2004. I will be uploading more in the coming weeks. I have about 5000 photos but I'm not sure that I'll upload all of them. Everyone has already seen the picture of the abominable snowman in a snow storm, right?
aloha
[posted with ecto]
Yes, I am back from six weeks of military training. Warrior Transition Course was not a good experience. I'm glad it's over. I spent a lot of time trying to figure out how to write an entry explaining my experience. Every attempt only sounded like so much whining and bitching. Suffice it to say that WTC is, in my opinion, a waste of time for Reserve and Guard soldiers. Enough said.
In June I will be heading off to the 38B Reclass Course. I've heard some really good things about this course and I'm really looking forward to it. I'm currently gearing up. It is a shame what soldiers pay out of their own pocket in order to get the good gear that really works. I am something of a gear hound but every soldier I've met has paid something out of his own pocket to buy mission essential equipment. But this is becoming another post so I'll leave it for another time.
Aloha
[posted with ecto]
Iraq's government has lost control of vast areas to powerful local factions and the country is on the verge of collapse and fragmentation, a leading British think-tank said on Thursday (source article).
I think this is an interesting article. I do not necessarily agree with the conclusions drawn but the article points out a couple of things that are not being said often enough.
The article says that the Iraqi government is on the verge of collapse. While I believe that to be a true statement I think we need to remember that the Iraqi government is really still in the birthing process. The article points to the Iraqi government's lack of influence over regions of Iraq as evidence that it is near collapse. However, one might also say that is evidence of a new government slowly gaining control of the territory within its boundaries. It is a question of perspective and spin. What happens next depends on many factors not the least of which is how much international support the new government gets.
The article also calls attention to the fact that Iran, Saudi Arabia and Turkey have vested interest in the internal conflicts in Iraq. Failure to ensure the establishment of a sound and secure government in Iraq is likely to lead to greater unrest beyond the borders of Iraq.
Aloha
[posted with ecto]
